Microfiche reading attachment for a typewriter

ABSTRACT

A microfiche reader composed of two main components. The first is a moving carriage typewriter of any standard construction. The second is a modular attachment and contains optical projection and viewing elements. The microfiche is read by unit index rotation of the typewriter platen (row scanning) and unit index actuation of the typewriter spacer bar (column scanning).

United States Patent [191 Yevick et al.

[451 Dec. 18, 1973 MICROFICHE READING ATTACHMENT FOR A TYPEWRITER Inventors: George J. Yevick, Leonia, N..l.;

Adnan Waly, Stamford, Conn.

Assignee: Personal Communication, Inc.,

Filed:

Stamford, Conn.

Apr. 5, 1971 Appl. No.: 131,050

US. Cl 353/27, 197/180, 353/78 Int. Cl.G03b 21/11, G03b 23/08, G03b 21/134 Field of Search 353/25, 26, 27, 46, 353/47, 50, 51, 7478 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Davock 353/95 2,690,697 10/1954 Rocca 40/130 B 3,442,586 5/1969 Coil 353/27 936,497 10/1909 Webster 353/46 1,081,922 12/1913 Balderston 353/66 Primary Examiner--Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-A. J. Mirabito Attorney-Stowell & Stowell 5 7 ABSTRACT A microfiche reader composed of two main components. The first is a moving carriage typewriter of any standard construction. The second is a modular attachment and contains optical projection and viewing elements. The microfiche is read by unit index rotation of the typewriter platen (row scanning) and unit index actuation of the typewriter spacer bar (column scanning).

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures MENTH] DEC 18 1975 v SHEET 1 0F 2 INVENTORS GEORGE J. YEV/CK ADNAN WALY PMWWBEC '18 am SHEET 8 0F 2 INVENTORS GEORGE J YEV/CK ADNAN WALY MICROFICI-IE READING ATTACHMENT FOR A TYPEWRITER This invention relates to information storage and retrieval, and particularly to a reading device for microfiches and similar sheet material carrying information reduced in scale.

Conventional reading devices for microfiches and similar substantially two-dimensional information carriers are provided with optical projection systems which forms a greatly enlarged image of the stored information on a screen, and a positioning device which places a desired portion of the information in the path of a light beam in the projection system.

An individual image on the microfiche represents a printed page of a book or the like and may typically occupy a space one-half inch long and three-eighths inch wide. The positioning (indexing) device must permit a selected image to be quickly placed in the path of the light beam. In view of the small dimensions involved, the positioning device must operate quite precisely, and is usually the most costly single component of a microfiche reader. The relatively high price of microfilm and microfiche reading devices now commercially available is due partly to the cost of the positioning device, and has therefore impeded the wide application of microfiches.

According to the practice of this invention a conventional typewriter provides the requisite positioning mechanism for microfiche readers. It has been found that a typewriter can be utilized and equipped with a modular component housing the light source, optical system, and screen necessary for temporarily converting the typewriter into a microfiche reading device.

Because of the many steps of the typewriter and the extreme accuracy of the stepping, enormous number of pages can be accommodated on one fiche. We have made a 8-% inch X 11 inch fiche which has 2,160 8- /2 inch X 11 inch sheets on it reduced by an amount 56 times. The accuracy of racking either along the x or y direction on the typewriter is excellent. The lack of alignment of the image on the 8-;& inch X 11 inch screen is only at most one-fourth inch for the entire 2,160 pages of the fiche.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1' illustrates an otherwise conventional typewriter of any standard construction modified for projecting microfiches in side-elevation, portions of the structure being broken away to reveal internal features.

FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in fragmentary front elevation.

FIG. 3 is a view of a typical microfiche.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral represents a carriage of any standard construction having a linearly movable carriage. A platen 12 is mounted on the carriage (not illustrated). Both manual means and automatic mechanisms, the latter of a wide variety of constructions, are employed to rotate the platen. The platen by virtue of these known mechanisms is indexed so that it rotates by equal angular increments, whether rotated manually as by grasping it or by a lever mechanism. Numeral 14 indicates the plurality of keys whice define the keyboard. As will be apparent from the description of the invention infra, the keys 14 are not employed in practicing the invention. The numeral 16 denotes a horizontal spacer bar, the depression of which permits the carriage to translate the platen 12, by suitable indexing means, by equal linear amounts in a direction parallel to the platens axis of rotation.

The numeral 18 denotes a housing having a base 20 and means indicated by the numeral 22 for temporarily securing or mounting the housing in the indicated position relative to the typewriter. The housing includes a viewing screen 24 of any conventional construction, as for example, a translucent screen having at least one roughened surface. The upper portion of the housing carries a reflecting surface 26 and the upper rear portion of the housing carries a reflecting surface denoted by the numeral 28. These reflecting surfaces may assume the form of conventional glass mirrors.

The numeral 30 denotes an optical magnification and projection system including a lens array holder 32 and a light source in the form of bulb 34. A heat-abosrbing glass slab is indicated by the numeral 36 and is positioned immediately adjacent and above lamp 34. A dichroic heat (infra-red) reflector slab is denoted by the numeral 38 and is positioned immediately above the glass 36. The numeral 40 denotes an optical aperture, light from the lamp 34 passing upward through the aperture 40 and thence through the lens array system in holder 32.

The lower portion 42 of housing 18 also contains a blower fan indicated by the numeral 44 for the purpose of dissipating heat and preventing undue temperature increase within the housing. The numeral 46 denotes a transformer for energizing the lamp 34 from a power source. Rear hinges 48 are secured to both the lower portion 42 and the upper portion of housing 18, to thereby enable the upper portion to swing backwardly, in a clockwise direction as viewed at FIG. 1. The numeral 50 denotes any one of three positioning pegs carried by the lower portion 44 for accurately aligning the upper portion of the housing with the lower portion 42. Two such positioning pegs are at the rear of the assemblage, with a single peg being positioned in the front nearest the platen 12.

The numeral 56 denotes either of two sheet metal shoes attached to the underside of the upper portion of housing 18 for the purpose of guiding a microfiche 58 into the optical path contained within aperture 40.

The microfiche S8 is of conventional construction. being generally transparent and imprinted with bunched information arranged in generally rectangular rows and columns on the surface. As an example of such a microfiche, reference is made to FIG. 3 of the drawings illustrating such bunches 60 arranged in rows and columns. The column spacing is denoted by c and the row spacing denoted by r. As an example of the utility of the present invention, such element 60 may be defined by a greatly reduced photographic image of one or more pages in a book. By virtue of known photographic techniques and methods of manufacture of microfiche sheets, an entire book may be stored on a single, transparent, plastic sheet of a size of conventional typewriter paper.

To operate the device, attachment to a conventional typewriter is made and the microfiche 58 inserted into the typewriter, in the same manner as an ordinary sheet of blank paper. The platen 12 is rotated, either manually or by sequential and repetitive depression of a lever (not illustrated) on the typewriter until the top edge of the microfiche 58 enters the gap 62 (see FIG. 2) between the top and bottom sections of housing 18. The shoe elements 56 serve to depress the microfiche immediately adjacent the area of the aperture 40 against the top 64 of the bottom portion 42 of the housing. The power source is energized and the lamp 34 projects a beam of light upward through the aperture 40, through the microfiche, through the lens system 32 and onto mirror 26, all as indicated at FIG. 1. The microfiche is then adjusted within its support and engagement by and around the platen l2 and its associated (not illustrated) gripping members, all so that one of the bunched information elements 60 is substantially directly over the aperture 40. In this position, as indicated by the light rays, the screen 24 is illuminated and completely filled by the image of 60 on microfiche 58.

Whenever it is desired to pass (see FIG. 3) from the upperleftmost information array 60 to the next on the same row, the horizontal spacer bar 16 of the typewriter is depressed, thereby moving the carriage which carries the platen by an amount equal to the spacing c on the microfiche. Similarly, when one of the horizontal rows in the microfiche 58 has been scanned and it is desired to scan the next row, the typewriter is actuated conventionally to thereby move the carriage back to the original position and simultaneously advance the rotation of the platen by a fixed amount. This amount corresponds to the row spacing r indicated at FIG. 3. It will accordingly be evident that the column spacing c and the row spacing r on the microfiche corresond to the indexing increments on the conventional typewriter. These increments are the rotational indexing increment of the platen and the translational index increment of the carriage which carries the platen. It will further be observed that the housing 18 is a separate unit and is by suitable mounting brackets and the like, affixed to the typewriter as indicated. After use, the housing 18 may be removed and the typewriter is ready for its normal function. The keys of the typewriter do not interfere with the optical operation of the device.

What is claimed is:

l. A microfiche reader including:

a. a typewriter having a linearly movable carriage, a rotary platen carried by said carriage, indexing means to rotate said platen by equal angular increments, indexing means to move said carriage parallel to the axis of rotation of said platen by equal linear increments,

b. a housing secured to the rear of said typewriter and adapted to receive a part of a microfiche carried by the platen,

c. said housing carrying an optical magnification and projection system and a viewing screen, said optical system including means for projecting a light beam in a direction normal to the axis of rotation of said platen,

d. a microfiche carried by said platen, said microfiche carrying bunched information arranged on rectangular rows and columns,

e. the angular and linear indexing increments of the typewriter corresponding to the row and column bunched microfiche information,

f. whereby a single angular platen increment advances the microfiche for row scanning and a single linear carriage increment advances the microfiche for column scanning.

2. A microfiche reader including:

a. a typewriter-like advancing and positioning mechanism including a linearly movable carriage, a rotary platen carried by said carriage, indexing means to rotate said platen by equal angular increments, indexing means to move said carriage parallel to the axis of rotation of said platen by equal linear increments,

b. a housing secured to the rear of said typewriter and adapted to receive a part of a microfiche carried by the platen,

c. said housing carrying an optical magnification and projection system and a viewing screen,

d. a microfiche carried by said platen, said microfiche carrying bunched information arranged on rectangular rows and columns,

e. the angular and linear indexing increments of the typewriter-like mechanism corresponding to the row and column bunched microfiche information,

f. whereby a single angular platen increment advances the microfiche for row scanning and a single linear carriage increment advances the microfiche for column scanning. 

1. A microfiche reader including: a. a typewriter having a linearly movable carriage, a rotary platen carried by said carriage, indexing means to rotate said platen by equal angular increments, indexing means to move said carriage parallel to the axis of rotation of said platen by equal linear increments, b. a housing secured to the rear of said typewriter and adapted to receive a part of a microfiche carried by the platen, c. said housing carrying an optical magnification and projection system and a viewing screen, said optical system including means for projecting a light beam in a direction normal to the axis of rotation of said platen, d. a microfiche carried by said platen, said microfiche carrying bunched information arranged on rectangular rows and columns, e. the angular and linear indexing increments of the typewriter corresponding to the row and column bunched microfiche information, f. whereby a single angular platen increment advances the microfiche for row scanning and a single linear carriage increment advances the microfiche for column scanning.
 2. A microfiche reader including: a. a typewriter-like advancing and positioning mechanism including a linearly movable carriage, a rotary platen carried by said carriage, indexing means to rotate said platen by equal angular increments, indexing means to move said carriage parallel to the axis of rotation of said platen by equal linear increments, b. a housing secured to the rear of said typewriter and adapted to receive a part of a microfiche carried by the platen, c. said housing carrying an optical magnification and projection system and a viewing screen, d. a microfiche carried by said platen, said microfiche carrying bunched information arranged on rectangular rows and columns, e. the angular and linear indexing increments of the typewriter-like mechanism corresponding to the row and column bunched microfiche information, f. whereby a single angular platen increment advances the microfiche for row scanning and a single linear carriage increment advaNces the microfiche for column scanning. 